Planning and Management of Community-Based Ecotourism in the Philippines

Abstract

Based on a case study of a strategic destination planning process implemented in Pamilacan Island, a coastal resort in the Philippines, the article presents a fieldwork model for use by ecotourism planning professionals in community-based ecotourism development. This participatory planning process is intended to encourage meaningful stakeholder participation and give a strategic focus to the ecotourism development process, providing a systematic framework for decision making that guides the rural community along the route towards its status as an ecotourism destination. The four stages in the planning process (participatory visioning, SWOT assessment, performance gap analysis and action planning) were used in conjunction with the World Wildlife Fund-Philippines Dolphin and Whale Watching Village project in the summer of 1997. The aim was to develop Pamilacan Island into the first community-based marine ecotourism destination in the Philippines. It is concluded that the planning approach used in this study has clear benefits over, and represents a significant departure from, traditional master planning approaches that tend to rely on expert consultant teams to collect data, assess the situation and make recommendations for development options. It places a higher priority on community participation and building stakeholder consensus, and has proved successful in its attempt to conserve biological diversity and create sustainable livelihoods.